1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display element and a manufacturing method therefor. More particularly, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display element and manufacturing method in which shorting metal for treating defective pixels is formed outside the pixel aperture region during fabrication of the display element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Active matrix liquid crystal displays (LCDs) typically operate in a white mode. When individual display pixels become defective, as shown in FIG. 1, a laser welding technique is used to connect a shorting metal 28 between a pixel electrode 15 and a source line 19 in order to convert the defective pixel into a black defect (otherwise referred to as a dark defect). However, this conventional technique has some disadvantages, some of which are described below.
First, the aperture ratio of the aperture region is reduced because the shorting metal 28 is formed partially within the pixel electrode. Further, because the shorting metal 28 is at a floating potential, parasitic capacitance develops between the pixel electrode 15 and the source line 19. This in turn degrades picture quality.
In another conventional technique shown in FIG. 2, a pixel electrode 151 is electrically connected with a source line 191 using a shorting metal. In this thin film transistor (TFT), a gate electrode 251 extends outward from the gate line 181. A defective pixel is transformed into a black defect by disconnecting the gate electrode 251 from a gate line 181 (shown by gap 182) using a laser, for example. However, this technique has several problems as well.
First, when the gate electrode 251 is formed on the gate line 181 as shown in FIG. 2, to extend a pixel aperture ratio, it is difficult for this technique to be adapted unless the gate line 181 consists of two lines. Moreover, even if the gate line 181 consists of two lines, when the gap 182 is insufficient to disconnect the gate electrode 251 from the gate line 181, this technique can't be adapted.